Take me Away
by lafantomette
Summary: He should have said something. Now she's gone. (Donna's journey) -DARVEY/After 616
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! This story was written as a birthday gift for someone who, like Donna, is amazing and kind and brilliant. She often told me how she would like to get away. I hope this story offers her a sweet escape. Much love, my dear friend. xoxo -Fantomette**

 **(this story will have six chapters, so stick with me! Hope you will enjoy it!)**

* * *

 **-Chapter 1-**

He should have said something.

But it isn't like he didn't say anything, he asked her what she meant by "wanting more" and she replied she didn't know. It would have been a bad idea to burden her with the weight of his needs and love again, right? If she needs to figure some things out, does she really needs him to be part of the equation?

(He wanted to be part of the equation.)

He dreamed they were happy, he knows now that those feelings he has for her, this is LOVE.

Maybe he should have been honest, but also, she cried. Maybe the timing wasn't right.

Timing.

It was something that was always off with them, he spent years lying to himself, believing what they had all those years ago wasn't love, but it was. Love, true love, once in a lifetime love knocking at their doors. But they both refused to open that door, true love is scary. She grew up in a world full of insecurities with her father, she needed calm and security. He grew up in a world of lies and manipulations, he needed loyalty and truth. They both were willing to provide each other what they needed. It was more than enough. For a while.

It grew between them, without noticing. Slowly and deeply, until one day he couldn't deny it anymore: she was the one person he couldn't live without. He was in love with her.

Now she needed more, and this more maybe didn't include him.

This morning, as he enters the firm bearing his name, his heart is thumping more and more loudly with each and every step leading him to his office. He wants to tell her…

He sees her empty cubicle, his heart sinks.

Maybe she's in Rachel's office, he thinks. He walks there fast, rehearsing in his head what to say. 'We need to talk…I've been dreaming about you.' No, too needy… 'I know you need time to think, but please do know I am in love with you.'… Is it too much, he wonders? Or maybe not talk. Just walk up to her, hold her, kiss her and take her breath away. How would she react?

But he has to say it. He has to tell her. He can't go on like this.

He enters an office occupied only by Rachel who immediately gasps "Harvey…You're here." Right away he senses something is wrong.

"Where is she," he hears himself say.

"Harvey, listen…" Rachel gets up and takes an envelope from her desk. "She's gone, but she left this for you."

He feels like the whole world is swallowing him whole and he can't find air to breathe properly. "What do you mean, gone?"

Rachel is now a foot from him, staring at him with…pity? Sadness? He can't quite decipher the expression on her face.

"Harvey, she just asked me to give you this and that you should go back to your desk and read this letter." Rachel sighs heavily. "I'm sorry Harvey…I can't tell you more right now. But…she hoped you would understand."

Everything between this moment when he takes the envelope addressed to him and the moment he sits at his desk is a blur. He opens the envelope with shaky hands and starts reading the words, handwritten by her on a white paper.

" _Dear Harvey,_

 _When I told you I wanted more and you asked me what I meant, I wasn't lying. I don't know. I need time to think. I need time away from the firm. I consulted HR and of course I accumulated a great amount of vacation days over the years so I won't be there for a few weeks. Don't worry about replacement, Gretchen has a very skilled friend who will stop by later today. Thanks for understanding._

 _Your friend,_

 _Donna. P.S.: here's the key to my apartment if you could water the plants once a week that would be much appreciated. If not, leave the key to Rachel."_

As he folds the piece of paper neatly and places it back in the envelope he leans just in time over the trashcan to vomit the breakfast he had on his way to the firm this morning.

He then rests his head on his arms, crossed on his desk, feeling the pearls of sweats dripping from his forehead. His eyes are itching with tears.

She's gone.

She left thinking she is just a secretary, replaceable.

She left before he could tell her she's irreplaceable because she's his whole life and that he needs her, not because of work, but because he is in love with her.

As she's handing her passport to the agent she feels nervous. She shouldn't be. Every day, millions of people travel and take the plane, but this is something new for her, going away on an adventure.

It's not like she waited for Harvey, she wasn't a woman who 'waited', it wasn't like she was in love with him all this time either. It was just…COMPLICATED. Their story was complicated. Something always hanging between enough and not quite. He asked her what she wanted and she, the woman who always had an answer to everything, had no idea. It's like she had lost herself somewhere along the way.

Now she needed to get away from it all to, hopefully, to find some missing parts of herself again.

" _American Airlines. Last boarding call to London Flight 100. Passengers please board gate 4."_

She smiles uneasily at the boarding crew and she silently sits on the plane minutes later, hoping this trip will provide her with the answers she's been looking for.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Thanks to everyone who left comments, it's greatly appreciated. The updates will all come pretty quick, so hope you will enjoy what's coming!-F**_

* * *

 **-Chapter 2-**

She finally sits and stretches her legs after walking all day. London is as perfect as she imagined and now, as 'King Lear' is about to start on the stage of the magnificent Shakespeare's Globe theater, she almost feels like this is an out-of-body experience.

London in three days: that's all it took for her to see everything she had on her list. Big Ben, the London Bridge…and now this. Her phone vibrates in her purse and she takes a quick look. A text message:

' _Hope you're having a nice trip. Your plants are still alive. –Harvey'_

She can barely suppress a small laugh.

' _One: I can't believe you know how to text me. Two: I left four days ago, unless you set fire to my apartment I don't think the plants can die that quickly. –Donna'_

She receives the next message a few seconds after she sent the last one.

' _Where are you? –Harvey'_

She stands up, so to take a selfie with the theater stage as a background and presses 'SENDS' without further explanation.

The couple next to her is eyeing her curiously but she doesn't care. She sits back as the lights are dimming down and she looks to see what he replied:

' _You should be the one on stage (I'm a Donna fan) –Harvey'_

She smiles and places the phone back in her purse, her eyes glued to the stage, as the play is about to start.

* * *

He's still staring at the picture she sent a few minutes ago. She looks happy, happier than she's been in months. She's beautiful with her hair up but a bit disheveled, just like that.

Her apartment smells of her. He won't tell her that he lighted up a candle while he was watering the plants. In fact, he blew out the candle as soon as she mentioned he could kill the plants by setting fire to her apartment. Not that it was a possibility but he already feels guilty enough that he lighted one. It wasn't like him to fall into sentimentality like this, but it reminded him of the last time they had dinner at her place (that time he screwed up everything by telling her he loved her and then, walked away). She lighted so many candles that time, giving the room a warm glow, making him feel safe, happy, at home and…

He doesn't touch anything else in her apartment: she would notice when she comes back. Donna always knows everything. He locks the door and heads to this cold empty place he calls 'home'.

* * *

Egypt makes her feel tiny. Tiny and insufficient and like she hasn't done anything in life. Too many man-made wonders: the pyramids, the Suez Canal. Hundreds of years ago, they built those amazing things and there she is, a woman of the 21st Century who achieved nothing. Because she is insecure, she chose the easy life, she chose money instead of doing what she always dreamed of. She helped HIM climb the ladder all the way up. For what? Making him happy? It seems he was. It seems that was enough for him. He told her they 'have everything', meaning, there was nothing more he expected or wanted from her.

Problem was…she was at this point in her life where she felt she was missing out on something. Maybe even missing out of many has been going on for a while. At first, she thought it was love. She dated Mitchell, and something was still missing. Confused, she thought, maybe, it was because of Harvey. There was always the 'possibility of him' lingering in the back of her mind.

Plus, he changed. He made things right with his mother and that was significant. She was ready to take a step forward (she was well-aware he would never be the one to make a move, after all, she was the one who warned him TO NEVER try anything with her). Then, The Donna happened. Benjamin came and out of nowhere offered her a new world of possibility. Strangely, she forgot everything about Harvey. She felt useful, complete, strong, until it failed.

But the fact that the possibility of a new career (or business opportunity) brought her so much happiness, made her reconsider everything: what if, after all, what's been missing in her life wasn't someone, but was something?

She's been pondering that question ever since he asked her what "more" means. And looking at the glorious Suez Canal slicing a panorama of sand and land, she feels like maybe she won't ever find the answer.

* * *

Gretchen's friend is nice and more than competent. She doesn't read his mind or anticipate every single one of his need like Donna does but nobody else can. She is irreplaceable.

He knows why.

He's in love with her. If he ever doubt it, he will sure have another dream to remind him she's more to him than a secretary. Just another dream where he sees her, smiling at him, tangled in his sheets. A dream where there is more than sex, there is a life TOGETHER. A life where he's happy just because she's in it. A dream where he cooks breakfast for her and she smiles at him across the table and he feels like his heart is about to explode just because that smile is for him only. He stands up just because he needs to touch her and hold her and remind her how much he loves her. He kisses her and she tastes like his favorite coffee, he wants more. More of everything. More of her fingers raking his hair, her lips on his neck and her voice whispering his name.

After each and every dream he wakes up to an empty bed, feeling like a dirty teenager who can't control his dreams. He tries to wash the emptiness of his nights away along with all these thoughts under a warm shower, but there's no use.

He goes to work, where 62 year-old Beatrice greets him behind what used to be Donna's desk and it is just another reminder of how empty his life is.

If only he would have told her he was ready…Maybe…


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who left a comment/fave/read this fic. Special thanks to Mary, your comment made me blush. I'm happy you enjoy reading my fics.**

 **Thanks for reading, guys. xoxo Fantomette**

* * *

 **-Chapter 3-**

" _Dear Harvey,_

 _It just occurred to me that you've never traveled. You never receive any letters or postcards so let me be your first! I'm now at a Yoga retreat in Kolkata, India. It's peaceful and a welcomed break after visiting Mumbai. Too. Many. People._

 _Hope everything is going well,_

 _Donna_

 _PS: I know this postcard has nothing to do with India but I was really impressed by the Suez Canal so there it is. The people who made it, definitely worked way harder than we do!"_

He read it three times already. She's right. She's his first. His first snail mail, that is. He can't stop smiling. That means she's thinking about him, right? Maybe she even misses him? Maybe she wishes he was there? He never traveled but he read more than once how, when you love someone, you want to share with them. Share things you see, things you hear. Sometimes, it's something small and stupid. Like yesterday, when Louis terrorized the interns, yelling at them, and then falling flat on his face while making his big exit. All the young lawyers trying not to laugh…and Harvey laughing, of course. Later, sitting at his desk, he thought about how much he would enjoy telling her. How this story would make her smile and then laugh that cute, sincere laugh she has. How her cheeks will get that pinkish hue. How she would probably reply something smart and funny too, making the whole story even more enjoyable.

He can't stop thinking how she always makes everything better. His whole life is better when she's in it.

* * *

These are the best dim sum she's ever had, no doubt about it. She walked around the city all day. The flower market road was beautiful but then, she hiked to Big Buddha. Big mistake. Took her three hours and a half and now she's totally exhausted and she's feeling not only jet lagged but also a little drunk.

He's hard not to spot as soon as he enters the hotel bar. Tall, his hair dark, his skin tanned like he spends a lot of time outdoor, but he's wearing a suit. A nice one. Tom Ford, maybe? Maybe her eyes lingered on him a tad too long because he also spots her and he flashes her a perfect smile and comes sit next to her at the bar. It crosses her mind then, that sitting alone at the hotel bar, wearing that beautiful black dress and eating dim sum while drinking wine ALONE, might give the wrong signal. She isn't looking to meet anyone.

"That seat is available?" he says with an accent. Not from England she thinks. New Zealand or Australia maybe?

"Well, you are asking but you already sat down," she remarks teasingly.

"Touché! But I don't see any ring on your finger, and such a beautiful woman should…"

"Okay. Cut it. I know your type," she says lifting a hand and looking straight at him. "You will shower me with compliments, will pay me a few drinks and will lead me straight to your bed."

He starts laughing wholeheartedly, a great, sincere laugh and she suddenly thinks maybe she shouldn't have been that harsh with him. After all, he's younger than she is and let's admit it: very handsome. She hasn't been with anyone since Mitchell so maybe she should welcome the distraction.

"I won't lie," he ends up saying. "If you want us to sleep together I won't say no. But truth is, I had a rough day and I'm just looking for a beautiful woman to share a drink with."

"Okay. Fair enough," Donna says. "Let's talk. So, what do you do exactly? I'm hesitating between lawyer or investor."

"You're good. I'm a lawyer. Specialized in international mergers actually. So you read people?"

She smiles. "Yes, I do. Also you do some kind of outdoor sport…"

"I surf! How did you know?"

"I am Donna. I know everything. Like I know you are going to order more Dim sums. And white wine."

* * *

Harvey sits in front of her and she can't help eyeing him curiously. He looks rumpled, to say the least. His tie is a bit askew and he obviously forgot to put gel in his hair that morning.

"Rachel…" he starts and stops, sighing heavily. "Is she mad at me?"

It takes a few seconds for her to register what he's talking about. He's here to talk about Donna. Harvey Specter wants to talk about her best friend with her.

"I don't think she is," answers Rachel.

"I need to know…" he licks his lips and his voice cracks a little when he starts again. "Do you think she's in love with me?"

"Harvey," she shakes her head. In the past, she often got a pang of jealousy because of this strange proximity Harvey and Donna have. Something she wishes she could have with Mike. It's like Harvey and Donna live on the same planet, feel the pain the other is feeling, but they never quite speak the same language. How can two people be so close and so far at the same time?

"Rachel…please," he repeats.

"Harvey, are you in love with her?" she asks him directly.

He doesn't answer but she sees something pass in his gaze. "I know you two had…something after the D.A. office."

"She told you?" he gasps. "Okay. What did she…" He stops. "No. But I just need to know did she…?"

"I think you both should stop asking each other questions. You should just…try something."

"Try what?"

Rachel rolls her eyes. "See? When it comes to her you always talk in riddles and questions. Stop asking questions. Unless they're to yourself and you have answers. And when you have the answers, tell her."

He doesn't move for a moment and he just stares at her visibly shaken. He then stands up and before leaving Rachel's office he turns around.

"I miss her. Not because I want my secretary back but because I am in love with her and I need her in my life."

He walks away, leaving Rachel with her mouth open in shock from the sincere admission he just gave.

* * *

Donna might be drunk a little but she notices how this handsome stranger's hand lingers on her knee, how he keeps staring at her lips when she talks (even if her speech is slurred). She hates to admit it but she does like the attention. He says something, she laughs and his mouth covers her lips. His hand his behind her neck and she can't resist. She lets his tongue dance in her mouth, trying to enjoy the moment.

But he doesn't taste like coffee and scotch like she wishes he would...


	4. Chapter 4

**-Chapter 4-**

He whispers an invitation into her ear and he starts kissing her neck before she answers. He takes her hand in his. She understands he wants to lead her to his room. She hesitates, she looks at her hand in his. He's been doing everything right but still…

This feels wrong.

She removes her hand from his and holds his arm still. "I'm sorry, I can't," she says flatly. He just looks at her and she can see he's surprised. "I hope I didn't come on too strong," he apologizes. "I really thought you were…"

"You didn't read the signals wrong," Donna says with tears in her eyes. "You're perfect. I just thought that by going away…" She bites her lips. It's not like her to share her feelings with a complete stranger, must be the alcohol talking.

"There's someone back home waiting for you, isn't it?" he says.

She can't help smiling. "I don't know. I think I've been kind of avoiding him. It's complicated."

"I'm really sorry Donna, I don't know what's the deal with that mate of yours but I know you froze the second I held your hand. "

* * *

It's like he read her mind: he calls her the second she sits on the bed in her hotel room.

"Donna."

She smiles. "Harvey."

There's a silence. She swears she can hear him smile. ' _How_?' she wonders. She just knows. ' _Maybe it's in the way he breathes_ ' she thinks. Her heart does a little flip: isn't a bit freaky, that you are this close to someone you can read into his breathing pattern?

He is the one who breaks the silence after what seems like forever. She is well-aware, even in her drunken state, that the silence probably only lasted a few seconds.

"I'm confused about that potted plant in your bedroom," he starts very seriously. "I watered her once but…"

"HER?" she repeats laughing. "She's a HER?"

"Donna. She…" he exhales in the phone while she laughs at him. "Okay. 'IT' had flowers and I just…I called IT a HER. It was pretty."

"HAD flowers?"

"HAD. I watered IT and the flowers…fell."

He seems honestly sad about it and she can't help finding him really sweet. He is really taking this plant watering job seriously.

"I don't think you killed IT, Harvey," she says, trying to keep her tone serious.

He takes a few moments to reply. "Donna, I just need to know if… I hope I'm doing this right."

"It's not complicated Harvey, you just have to water it when the soil gets dry. It won't die."

"Because I'd hate to let it die because I should have done something and I didn't. I want it to…(she can hear his licking his lips nervously) I want you to…"

She's not sure he's talking about the plants anymore.

"I just needed a little time away, Harvey. I'll be back really soon."

"Okay."

She ponders talking about IT, the elephant in the room, that thing between them that grew and grew into something bigger than them both. But she decides that she should do it with a clear head: not half-drunk at 2am after she just kissed another man and JUST realized the one she wanted to kiss was the one at the other end of the line.

"It's late, Harvey, I'm in bed and ready to sleep. We'll talk soon."

"Late? Where are you? No longer in India?"

"I'm in Hong Kong. And leaving for Japan in two days so I really need to get some sleep."

* * *

She just hung up and he already misses her. In all the years they have worked together, this is the longest he's ever been without her. It's obvious now, that he never crossed the line because he can't stand not having her in his life.

And why would she want him in her life, not as her boss, but as her…

(He can't even use that word. He's always been a mess and this is one word, or even title, he doesn't deserve.)

She's always been there for him, through thick and thin, pushing him all the way to the top and he can see now all the sacrifices she made for him.

She seemed happy with what her life had become (best secretary/assistant in Manhattan with a paycheck bigger than all the others secretaries and even than many lawyers) but he feels guilty. Even if never asked her to sacrifice anything, she just did.

He didn't lie when he told her he was a Donna fan. There's nothing he'd like more for her than to be happy and he had come to realize, after many therapy sessions and dreams and nightmares, that if that means she has to go…

He's accepting it.

Even if it was a shock a few weeks ago to see she left. Yes, he panicked (he wasn't proud of it). It didn't last long. He was fine. He still misses her, just differently now. And he really wishes she would come to the same realization. He doesn't want to push her into realizing anything, he wants her to be free. He didn't say anything so far because she's confused and he doesn't want her to think he's trying to bullying her into staying.

He promised himself, next time he will say it, those three little words, it will be in between that small moment when his lips are almost on hers and his hand is in her hair and all the air surrounding him will be her, just her and…

"Are you feeling okay Mister Specter?"

The voice makes him jumps in his chair and it's just then that he notices his secretary, Beatrice, all five feet two of her tiny frame, white hair, blue eyes squinting at him behind her thick frames. She's standing in front of his desk, a few manila folders in her hands.

"You should knock when you…" he starts defensively like a kid who's been caught red-handed daydreaming about his crush from school.

"I did," replies the old woman. "And your door was opened and you were just staring at the wall so I wonder…"

"I'm just tired. I'll get coffee." He gets up and takes the folders, placing them on his desk. "Can you call Bozeman to reschedule the 7 o'clock please? Earlier please?"

He heads to the coffee machine but can't stop thinking.

About HER, that is. Her trip, or rather her 'journey'.

As he's stirring the vanilla in the dark liquid he wonders why she had to get away.

' _Maybe she isn't so different than I am and she has troubles separating me from the job_ ' he thinks.

Maybe that's why she went away.

 _Where_?

There's something oddly familiar in her itinerary and he can't quite put his finger on it.

He takes a few sips of coffee (not as good as the one she makes me, he thinks) and he walks to Mike's office, who's sitting behind his desk, reading something attentively.

"Mike," he says his name as a greeting. "If I tell you: London, the Suez Canal in Egypt, India, Hong Kong and Japan…"

"San Francisco," says Mike before even letting Harvey finish. "What comes next is San Francisco."

"Why are you so sure?"

"You never read 'Around the World in 80 days' by Jules Verne?"

* * *

Harvey made a real effort because she teased him about it: he remembers the guy's name. The IT guy at the firm, Benjamin.

He finds him, not surprisingly, sitting at his station, eyes glued on the computer.

"Hi Benjamin, how are you?" Harvey tries to sound pleasant and polite.

He sees the man's face change as soon as he sees him. "Why are you here?" There's a hint of fright in his voice.

"I wanted to ask you something." Harvey pushes his hands in his pockets and stops a few inches from Benjamin's desk.

"First of all, it's part of my job to go through her emails and stuff and let me just say," says Benjamin really fast with panic, "there is nothing, NOTHING between Donna and I that could resemble any…"

"What?" Harvey removes his hands from his pockets and lays one flat on Benjamin's desk. He's utterly confused. It takes a few seconds for him to understand Benjamin must be talking about how he came up with "The Donna" (the device he put up with Donna, the trigger for her to leave in fact).

"I know there's nothing between you two, she's WELL out of your league, but that's not why I'm here today…" He taps his fingers on Benjamin's desk. "So you just admitted you have access to all of our emails. And you know Donna is gone, and I need something."

"Something from her personal emails, got it, because you already have access to her work emails." Benjamin has already started searching on his computer.

After a moment, Benjamin stops and glares at Harvey. "And you want? I'm not giving you anything unless it's very important."


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Thanks for reading... As promised, I'm not making you wait too long between each chapter. xoxo Fantomette**_

* * *

 **-Chapter 5-**

The 'Sankeien Gardens' in Yokohama is a magical place and she would have liked to wander there much longer but she couldn't miss her flight leaving from Tokyo.

She finally had made up her mind and she even got used to the idea while being on the ten hours flight. She was neither happy nor sad, she was just a bit scared of the unknown. She's never been good at dealing with the unknown but she always had a plan. She was the one who drifted away from it because of him.

She's well aware that she wasn't held captive, she's the one who decided to stay at the firm because the pay was more than good and she was the best. Who doesn't like being the best at something?

Can she say she really drifted away from her plan of being an actress? She was such a good actress that she even convinced **herself** playing the part of ' _the woman who is NOT in love with the male lead'_. She believed it every single day until she got tired of playing that role. Until he messed up his lines too, by saying too much and she forgot how to play. He was supposed to stick to THAT script: he didn't. She resented him a bit for that. They were doing fine until…

Did they?

Maybe it was all make believe. Maybe they were always more and they were never fine and they were both liars. She never lied to him, but she sure lied to herself.

 _(She smiles quietly as she gets up from her seat, waiting for the other passengers to move over. Okay. False. She lied to him. Not when she told him she wasn't in love with him. That was true. She had feelings for him and she didn't even want to look into it and see what it was. She lied when she said she loved him like a brother. She had sex with Harvey once and she doesn't even allow her mind to go THERE because…)_

It happened once.

She fell in love. Once. And never fell out of it.

All the rest was make-believe.

She's more than happy to find her bright red luggage right away and to be ready to walk out the door. She'll call an Uber, she just needs a tall warm coffee first, and fast.

She's thinking about this very important task and she isn't focusing on her surroundings, still, she will later swear she FELT his eyes on her. That's how deeply connected they are: her heart does a little flip before she even hears his voice calls her name and when she sees his face, him locking eyes with her, he smiles. That smile of his that reaches his eyes and charms anyone. She smiles back because she's charmed.

She decided a few hours ago she was tired of fighting it, and she will just surrender without thinking. It's just happening, unexpectedly, three days sooner than she planned.

He has his hands in his pocket and he can't stop smiling. She's holding to her luggage and pushing the strand of hair that has fallen across her face with her other hand.

To people around them, they probably look like a couple who met online and are now meeting in person for the first time. They are smiling, not talking. He's the first to break the silence.  
"I didn't know you like that story."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"I'd like to find out."

"Is it why you're here?" It crosses her mind then, maybe he wants to ask her to come back sooner. She has to tell him…

But he opens his mouth before she does:

"I'm here to fire you."

She hears the words leave his mouth but it's like she's letting them float around, not quite grasping them. She dreamed about this. Not a premonition, just one of the hundreds of scenarios she made up in her mind. She could be wrong, but he digs his hands out of his pockets and he takes a step closer, close enough that their breaths are melting into each other and that he can add, his voice barely above a whisper:

"Unless you really don't want to. But there one thing I need to tell you. So I'm just gonna say it."

She tries to say "okay" but she can't hear herself talk. His eyes are the color of that coffee she was craving so much earlier and they give him away before his mouth does.

Because she always read him like that.

She's drawn to him. Because she stopped fighting it. Maybe he touched her face before she grabbed his neck, or maybe it all happened simultaneously. One thing for sure, his lips said "I'm in love with you" so close to hers, maybe she imagined it, maybe she just felt it but here they are, the big cliché: Two people kissing in the middle on an airport, eyes closed, not listening to the brouhaha around them, the only sound of their beating hearts and mingled breaths engulfing them.

If her luggage wouldn't have fall, hitting the ground making a loud thud, maybe they could have kissed for several more minutes _(it took them twelve years. Twelve years.)_

She blinks a few times and giggles like a teenager. It's real. He's standing in front of her, a smile on his face. He's wearing jeans. A navy sweater over a white t-shirt. She already noticed he doesn't have gel in his hair (she felt how soft his hair was when they kissed, she raked her fingers on his scalp making him hum softly against her lips). It's like a different-Harvey.

"I rented a car."

"…and you took some time off from work. I can't believe this. But… How did you know my flight was…"

"Benjamin. I begged him."

"Okay. I'll talk to him."

"You're mad? You don't seem mad." He takes her luggage in one hand and holds her hand with the other. "Where's your hotel room?"

"Optimistic much?" she rolls her eyes at him and he grins.

She realizes then that it's slower, walking while holding someone's hand. Especially in a packed airport. The surprising thing is that she knows he likes to hold on to her. It kinds of give him away when she woke up with him all over her twelve years ago. She should have known it wouldn't be easy to get rid of him and all the feelings he stirs inside of her (thankfully).


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow. thanks for all the likes/comments guys! I'm so happy you liked this fic, sending big hugs to all of you and I hope you will all appreciate this last chapter. Lau: you are an amazing human being. You make me want to become a better person and I hope one day we can meet and drink coffee together. -fantomette xoxo**

* * *

 **-Chapter 6-**

He told her everything she missed at the firm and he asked many questions about her trip, an easy, friendly conversation that made her wonder for a moment if she dreamed that kiss. She did take a Dramamine on that flight, maybe all this was unreal?

But as she sees him walking towards her at the front desk, smiling, rolling her big, red luggage behind him, she feels a longing that wasn't there before. An urgency. They need to talk.

She gets the room keycard and he follows her to the elevator where he stands too close to her and by the way he looks at her, she is sure he would have kissed her again if another couple wouldn't have entered the elevator just before the doors closed.

She almost feels a sense of relief when they enter the room, because, he immediately seems timid and he doesn't sit on the bed he sits on the armchair by the window. Being alone with her, in a room with a King Size Bed in the middle, seems too much too fast, even for him.

After splashing some cold water on her face she opens her luggage to get some clean clothes and as much as she tries to ignore him, she feels his gaze on her.

"What?"

He smirks. "Just…do you have a dress? For our date?"

"Our date?" she repeats the words like they will make more sense that way.

"Yes. We're going out."

She sighs. "Harvey…this isn't a romantic comedy. You can't just show up at the airport and take me out and we live happily ever after. This is real life and…" She pushes a hand on her forehead. "I'm really tired. I can't even think straight."

"Donna, you should sleep then," he simply says.

She puts the clothes back in the luggage and picks a PJ, heading for a nice warm shower.

As she buttons the long sleeves PJ she is well-aware this is far from being sexy but she didn't lie when she said she's tired.

She glances at her image reflected in the mirror: fresh-faced, no makeup, her wet hair combed into a ponytail. She gets out of the bathroom expecting some clever remark from him, on her toned-down appearance compared to what he's used to at the firm.

The TV is on, shouting the spectacular attributes of this new cleaning product but Harvey has fallen asleep, remote control in hand and head on the pillows.

Typical male, she thinks. A few minutes ago he was ready to go out on a date and now he's sleeping. And not a small nap but more like deep sleep: she sits on the bed next to him and touches his hand and he just groans and turns on his side. Seems like they are going to share a bed. If this isn't going forward and jumping feet first into the unknown, she doesn't know what this is.

She turns the light off and gets under the cover, having troubles pulling them all on top of her as he's sleeping on the comforter. She turns on her side, closes her eyes and tries not to think.

Think about everything she has to tell him. Everything that is about to change…

She searches for his hand above the comforter and finds it, falling asleep with her hand gripping his fingers.

* * *

The numbers on the clock indicates 8:37 but he's still tired. He worked until late, trying to accommodate some clients he had to cancel appointments with, all that before taking a long flight to San Francisco.

He needed to see her outside the firm. He needed to see her outside Manhattan. He needed to see her far from work, both of them in a different mindset. He needed to give themselves a chance to work. The most important relationship of his entire life.

He's still numb from sleep but he feels her hand on his hand and that is all it takes for him to get goosebumps. He tells himself then, that he should turn on his other side and look at her. But moving risks losing her hand…

It's strange, this fear of moving. That always has been his problem, he thinks while swallowing thickly. When it comes to his personal life he never makes a move by fear of losing what he has (he screwed everything up with his family by making one stupid move. But he's okay now. He still bears the scars, always will, but at least now he's conscious of it).

There's so much to gain. Just a small move.

He turns around to face her, she removes her hand and pushes it under her own pillow while she exhales. He already misses touching her. He sees her then, in the dim light that the curtains let in the room. She's like every single one of his dream come alive. Red hair splayed on the pillow, her pink lips parted to breathe, her porcelain skin calling his touch.

She has an arm on the sheets, long sleeve of her PJ all pulled up to above her elbow and he gently runs his hand over the bare skin of her forearm, feeling the tiny hair of her arm rising up, and then, he stops his course when his fingers fall on her wrist, squeezing.

She blinks then, and opens sleepy eyes on him.

"Hey, good morning," he murmurs. She answers his greeting with a smile and he feels her stretching her legs under the covers.

They stare at each other for what seems like minutes and he finally says:

"So you want more."

"I do," she replies simply, her voice still hoarse from sleep.

He pushes his hand from her wrist to her hand, linking his fingers between her fingers.

"I just want you to know, whatever you decide, it's okay. I won't…" he searches the right word and then settle on one. "I won't panic."

Donna squeezes his fingers and chuckles. "It's okay. If you do I'll call Doctor Agard."

"But I won't. I want you to be happy."

"I think I need something else Harvey. What we have, work, it isn't enough anymore."

"I know."

"I don't have all the answers, I think I'm just willing to give life a chance to find them for me."

He doesn't say a thing, he wants to let her talk so he just nods.

"I still want to work at the firm, just…part time for now. I want to go to auditions."

"We'll figure something out Donna."

"Okay."

He stopped holding her hand while she was talking, putting a hand on her waist even if there are sheets and a comforter between her forms and his touch. "Would you like to work with Louis?"

"Why would I work with Louis?" She puts a hand on his torso and practically can feel his heartbeat accelerates.

"Because you don't get involved with men you work with." He pushes the comforter down, slowly, his hand caressing her side in the process, making her shiver under his touch.

"Are you saying there's someone at work who's into me?"

"Well, he's crazy about you." Hand on the small of her back, he pulls her closer, their faces almost touching. She holds his gaze and tugs on the comforter, indicating him to come under the sheets. He does, immediately feeling the warmth and softness of her body close to him and he can't help himself but pulling her even closer until he can bury his face in her neck.

She rolls on top of him and sits on his lap, removing her pajama top while looking directly at him.

"Technically, if I work for Louis, it's the same office. You would still be someone I work with." She speaks while pushing her hands under his t-shirt and he's just a poor mortal, trying to catch his breath while the woman of his dream is sitting on his now very uncomfortable erection.

He's definitely dying and dying as never felt so good.

He tries to speak but not a sound comes out, her hands helping him out of his t-shirt and then, pushing him back into the mattress, Donna pressing her body flushed on his. He can feel her breasts on his torso and it's already more than enough to drive him to the brink. He spent years doing it with women he didn't even care to be with, he believed he was good, one of the best and there he is, with the woman of his dreams (and it isn't a figure of speech: she really is) feeling totally inapt and overwhelmed. His hands reach for her face and he presses his mouth against her neck, slowly inhaling her skin, feeling her melting into him as he brings her face up to his, kissing her fully on the lips. Kissing until he makes her moan under his touch, and they peel off the rest of their clothes and shove them across the room, giggling and kissing again and again while sinking under the covers.

Of course she thought about this moment more than once. She refused to think about it for years after 'the other time' but she's been thinking about it a lot lately.

It's not how she imagined. It's even better.

There's less cockiness from his part, he's visibly overwhelmed.

Totally in love with her. More than she could ever imagined.

She's trying to slow down the pace, trying to kiss him more tenderly while he's kissing her desperately. She wonders, how long he's been in love with her. She thought she knew everything… Obviously, she didn't.

Maybe he always was.

She holds his face and whispers "I love you" before kissing him even more tenderly. She locks one of her ankle around one of his leg and wraps her arms around his back, guiding him where he should be. He holds her tight as he slides into her, already making pleasure rolls in waves inside her. She delights and melts into his hands caressing her bare skin everywhere, he's breathing hard and she hears her name on his lips (she takes it as a compliment). When she is close, so close to the edge, she lifts her leg and puts her ankle on his shoulder, watching his face change as he realizes they couldn't get any closer than this, thrusting deep into her core until she shudders under his touch. He falls on his side, totally exhausted.

Dead almost.

She rolls on her back, takes a few minutes to relish in the moment, thinking how the French call this "la petite mort" (the little death). She'd never understood what it really meant until now.

The term is even more appropriate because this is a new beginning, or rather she should say, a new chapter to their story.

It was always there between them, floating in the air around them, poking them at times, annoyingly, as they both tried to ignore it.

Their story: a love story.

"So how do you like me outside the office?" he asks with a satisfied smile while snuggling closer to her.

"Very much. In fact, I hope you don't have to go back to the office for a few days because I'd like to try some more of that. And some sightseeing."

"Sounds like a good plan. But you do have an audition next Friday." He smiles at her, that perfect, charming grin of his.

She hits him lightly on the shoulder. "You didn't! Harveeeeeey!" she rolls her eyes. "I want to do this on my own.

"But you are!" he caresses her sides, just above her waistline and she realizes now, they are playing another game. With him touching her like this all the time, it's going to be harder to be strong. "Listen Donna. It's Shakespeare. A client just told me about this play after we had some talks over the conditions of this lease for a theater. I asked about the auditions and I just said it might interest 'someone'. He's not doing it as in a favor for me. You just have to go IF you want to."

"Hmmm…" she groans unconvinced.

"The only thing I got for you is the address and the time. But believe me…" he starts kissing her neck but it tickles and she tries to push him but she's kind of holding him too. "I saw you in that play. I never lied. I'm a Donna fan. You're amazing. You don't need me."

"Okay," she says closing her eyes. "Fair enough. But just to make things clear, I do need you. Just not for THAT." She scoots over and kiss him on the lips.

 **-The End-**


End file.
